January 16
January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 349 days remaining until the end of the year (350 in leap years). Contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances 5 External links Events 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán. 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. 750 – The army of Abdallah ibn Ali and Abu Awn Abd al-Malik ibn Yazid defeats that of Marwan II in the Battle of the Zab, bringing the Abbasid Revolution to completion. 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba. 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1362 – A storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand. 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy. 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language is presented to Queen Isabella I. 1547 – Ivan IV of Russia a.k.a. Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia. 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain. 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. 1581 – The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism. 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain. 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. 1761 – The British capture Pondichéry, India from the French. 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent. 1786 – Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson. 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña. 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory. 1862 – Hartley Colliery Disaster: Two hundred four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape. 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule. 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed. 1896 – Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire. 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands. 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. 1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification. 1920 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University. 1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France. 1921 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa. 1924 – Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for the fourth time. 1938 – Benny Goodman, and his band, performed in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City 1939 – The Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a bombing and sabotage campaign in England. 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard. 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker. 1964 – Hello, Dolly! (musical) starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances. 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before. 1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk. 1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects. 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt. 1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force. 1991 – The Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time). 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives. 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War. 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban. 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. 2005 – Romanian university lecturer and novelist Adriana Iliescu gives birth at 66 to her daughter Eliza, breaking the record for the oldest birth mother in the world 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state. 2013 – An estimated 41 international workers are taken hostage in an attack in the town of In Aménas, Algeria. Births 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, Byzantine son of Alexios I Komnenos (d. 1152) 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1296) 1362 – Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, English Duke (d. 1392) 1409 – René of Anjou (d. 1480) 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547) 1501 – Anthony Denny, English politician (d. 1559) 1516 – Bayinnaung, Burmese king (d. 1581) 1616 – François de Vendôme, Duke of Beaufort (d. 1669) 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter (d. 1699) 1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (d. 1716) 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1755) 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Belgian sculptor (d. 1781) 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer and educator (d. 1800) 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1803) 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral and politician, 3rd Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1834) 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877) 1815 – Henry Halleck, American lawyer, general, and scholar (d. 1872) 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875) 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906) 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894) 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917) 1844 – Ismail Qemali, Albanian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Albania (d. 1919) 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937) 1853 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English general (d. 1947) 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931) 1855 – Eleanor Marx, English activist and author (d. 1898) 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942) 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973) 1872 – Edward Gordon Craig, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1966) 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958) 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1947) 1876 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1937) 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1947) 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954) 1882 – Robert Lane, Canadian soccer player (d. 1940) 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American author (d. 1973) 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (d. 1967) 1886 – John Hamilton, American actor (d. 1958) 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian author and critic (d. 1945) 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian violinist (d. 1981) 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985) 1895 – Evripidis Bakirtzis, Greek soldier and politician (d. 1947) 1895 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1966) 1895 – Nat Schachner, American lawyer, chemist, and author (d. 1955) 1896 – Ruth Rose, American screenwriter (d. 1978) 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet and academic (d. 1977) 1898 – Margaret Booth, American producer and editor (d. 2002) 1898 – Bedia Muvahhit, Turkish actress (d. 1994) 1898 – Irving Rapper, English-American director and producer (d. 1999) 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945) 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973) 1901 – Frank Zamboni, American businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (d. 1988) 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945) 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945) 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989) 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer and pilot (d. 1975) 1906 – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964) 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 1995) 1907 – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician, 10th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004) 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984) 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941) 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974) 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982) 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996) 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor and educator (d. 1992) 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996) 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl's Jr. (d. 2008) 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet and educator (d. 2005) 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish director, producer, and production manager (d. 2009) 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian surveyor and politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007) 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996) 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American chemist and academic (d. 2012) 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1991) 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004) 1922 – Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer (d. 2008) 1923 – Anton-Günther, Duke of Oldenburg (d. 2014) 1923 – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014) 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American soldier, poet, and academic (d. 2004) 1923 – Keith Shackleton, English painter and television host (d. 2015) 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002) 1925 – Peter Hirsch, English metallurgist and academic 1925 – James Robinson Risner, American general (d. 2013) 1925 – Harold Switzer, American actor and singer (d. 1967) 1926 – O. P. Nayyar, Indian director and composer (d. 2007) 1928 – William Kennedy, American journalist, historian, and author 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano (d. 1996) 1929 – Shigeru Kōyama, Japanese actor 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic (d. 2014) 1930 – Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (d. 2006) 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013) 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, American journalist and author 1930 – Paula Tilbrook, English actress 1931 – Sir John Enderby CBE FRS, Physicist 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic 1931 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006) 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983) 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (d. 1985) 1933 – Susan Sontag, American author and playwright (d. 2004) 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano and actress 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver 1935 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2015) 1936 – Michael White, Scottish actor and producer 1937 – Lorraine Bayly, Australian actress 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011) 1937 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015) 1938 – Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria (d. 2015) 1938 – Michael Pataki, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2010) 1938 – Jô Soares, Brazilian comedian, actor, and talk show host 1938 – Marina Vaizey, American journalist and critic 1939 – Mac Curtis, American singer (d. 2013) 1939 – Ralph Gibson, American photographer 1940 – Lepa Lukić, Serbian singer 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player and sportscaster 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer 1943 – Brian Ferneyhough, English composer and academic 1944 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (Cluster, Harmonia, and Moebius & Plank) (d. 2015) 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter and actor 1944 – Jill Tarter, American astronomer 1944 – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (d. 2014) 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer and manager *1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor 1946 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress 1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician 1947 – Magdalen Nabb, English author and educator (d. 2007) 1947 – Sara Jane Olson, American criminal 1947 – Harvey Proctor, English politician 1947 – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author 1948 – John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer 1948 – Ants Laaneots, Estonian military general, former Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Defence Forces 1948 – Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand singer-songwriter (d. 2002) 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne's 1949 – R. F. Foster, Irish historian and academic 1949 – Oliver Humperdink, American wrestling manager (d. 2011) 1949 – Caroline Munro, English actress and singer 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian physician and politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer 1950 – Brian Castro, Hong Kong-Australian author and academic 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 2010) 1950 – Damo Suzuki, Japanese singer and guitarist (Can) 1951 – Glenn Ordway, American sportscaster 1952 – Fuad II of Egypt 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian race car driver 1952 – Julie Anne Peters, American engineer and author 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984) 1953 – John Stephen Hill, Canadian actor 1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015) 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut 1956 – Jennifer Dale, Canadian actress and dancer 1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager 1956 – Ivan Safronov, Russian journalist and engineer (d. 2007) 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter 1957 – Mark Pawsey, English businessman and politician 1958 – Andriy Bal, Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2014) 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997) 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish politician, 9th Swedish Minister for the Environment 1958 – Marla Frazee, American author and illustrator 1958 – Tony Pulis, Welsh footballer and manager 1958 – Andris Šķēle, Latvian politician and businessman, former Prime Minister of Latvia 1959 – Sade (singer), Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer 1959 – Juanita Bynum, American actress and singer 1959 – Kimiko Ikegami, Japanese actress 1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator 1961 – Ronnie Lee Gardner, American criminal (d. 2010) 1961 – Paul Raven, English bass player (Killing Joke, Prong, Godflesh, Zilch, Society 1, and Ministry) (d. 2007) 1961 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006) 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Australian Minister of Defence 1962 – Denis O'Hare, American-Irish actor and singer 1962 – John T. Riedl, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013) 1962 – Ileana Salvador, Italian race walker 1962 – Paul Webb, English bass player (Talk Talk and .O.rang) 1963 – James May, English journalist and television host 1964 – Deyan Nedelchev, Bulgarian singer-songwriter 1965 – Maxine Jones, American singer (En Vogue) 1965 – Jill Sobule, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1966 – Anthony Washington, American discus thrower and hammer thrower 1967 – Dandy Sakano, Japanese comedian 1968 – Danni Ashe, American model, dancer, and businesswoman 1968 – David Chokachi, American actor 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author 1969 – Neil Back, English rugby player and coach 1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer 1969 – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter (Belle and Sebastian and The Vaselines) 1969 – Roy Jones, Jr., American boxer, rapper, and actor 1969 – Per "Dead" Ohlin, Swedish singer-songwriter (Mayhem and Morbid) (d. 1991) 1969 – Rich Ward, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fozzy, Stuck Mojo, and Adrenaline Mob) 1970 – Rick Bognar, Canadian wrestler and actor 1970 – Garth Ennis, Irish physiotherapist and author 1970 – Brendan O'Hare, Scottish drummer (Teenage Fanclub, Telstar Ponies, and Mogwai) 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor, producer, and screenwriter 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian footballer 1972 – Dameon Clarke, Canadian-American actor 1972 – Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer and manager 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer and manager 1972 – Salah Hissou, Moroccan runner 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player 1972 – Richard T. Jones, Japanese-American actor and producer 1972 – Greg Page, Australian singer and actor (The Wiggles) 1972 – Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer 1973 – Josie Davis, American actress and producer 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster 1974 – Brent Hinds, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1974 – John Hopoate, Tongan-Australian rugby league player and boxer 1974 – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer 1975 – Greg Strause, American director and producer 1975 – Gillian Iliana Waters, American actress 1975 – Anthony Taberna, Filipino journalist 1976 – Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, Bahamian sprinter 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer 1976 – Roselle Nava, Filipino actress and singer turned politician 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player 1977 – Ariel Ze'evi, Israeli martial artist 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 2001) 1979 – Toshiki Kashu, Japanese actor 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player 1980 – Seydou Keita, Malian footballer 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player 1980 – Katalin Vad, Hungarian porn actress and model 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player 1981 – Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes) 1981 – Bobby Zamora, English footballer 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter (The Ordinary Boys) 1982 – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer 1982 – Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Danish actress 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer 1984 – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer 1984 – Jared Slingerland, Canadian guitarist 1984 – Kurt Travis, American singer-songwriter 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist 1985 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor 1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer 1985 – Simon Richter, Danish footballer 1986 – Mason Gamble, American actor 1986 – Irina Kuzmina, Latvian tennis player 1986 – Paula Pareto, Argentinian martial artist 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer 1987 – Lauren McAvoy, English model 1987 – Sheena Halili, Filipino actress 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer 1988 – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer 1988 – FKA twigs, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and producer 1988 – Li Xiaoxia, Chinese table tennis player 1988 – Alex Gonzaga, Filipino actress, host, and writer 1989 – Yvonne Zima, American actress 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player 1992 – Matt Doherty, Irish footballer 1992 – Maja Keuc, Slovenian singer 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer 1993 – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player 1994 – Charlotte Best, Australian model and actress 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer Deaths 378 – Chak Tok Ich'aak I, Mayan king 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician, Chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 596) 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, senior official of the Tulunid, Abbasid and Ikhshidid dynasties (b. 871) 970 – Patriarch Polyeuctus of Constantinople 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250) 1387 – Elizabeth of Bosnia (b. 1339) 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352) 1545 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (b. 1484) 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477) 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480) 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512) 1592 – John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern (b. 1543) 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546) 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580) 1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675) 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651) 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet and playwright (b. 1680) 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch lawyer and scholar (b. 1684) 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1667) 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (b. 1705) 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737) 1809 – John Moore, Scottish general (b. 1761) 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759) 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (b. 1769) 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795) 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian secretary and author (b. 1795) 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828) 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian-French poet and bookseller (b. 1827) 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and academic (b. 1834) 1891 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (b. 1836) 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802) 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet and playwright (b. 1825) 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter (b. 1827) 1901 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American solder, minister, and politician (b. 1822) 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman, founded Marshall Field's (b. 1834) 1907 – Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte, French daughter of Napoleon (b. 1816) 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837) 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848) 1920 – Reginald De Koven, American composer and critic (b. 1859) 1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867) 1935 – Fred Barker, American criminal (b. 1901) 1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871) 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (b. 1870) 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author and playwright (b. 1876) 1939 – William O'Connor, American fencer (b. 1864) 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850) 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885) 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress and singer (b. 1908) 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899) 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874) 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (b. 1867) 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887) 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876) 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880) 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1885) 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor; designed the Gregory of Nin, The Bowman and The Spearman, Monument to the Unknown Hero, Pobednik (b. 1883) 1963 – Ike Quebec, American saxophonist (b. 1918) 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic (b. 1901) 1968 – Bob Jones, Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883) 1968 – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek judge and archeologist (b. 1881) 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903) 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890) 1972 – Teller Ammons, American soldier and politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895) 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor (b. 1919) 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888) 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890) 1979 – Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1932) 1979 – August Heissmeyer, German SS officer (b. 1897) 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908) 1982 – Red Smith, American journalist (b. 1905) 1985 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet, critic, and translator (b. 1910) 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892) 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928) 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian Ustaše leader, Porajmos perpetrator (b. 1899) 1988 – Ballard Berkeley, English actor (b. 1904) 1989 – Prem Nazir, Indian actor (b. 1926) 1993 – Glenn Corbett, American actor (b. 1930) 1993 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strongman and weightlifter (b. 1960) 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924) 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903) 1996 – Kaye Webb, English journalist and publisher (b. 1914) 1997 – Ennis Cosby, American educator (b. 1969) 1997 – Markus Hoffmann, German actor (b. 1971) 1998 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (b. 1921) 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 12th Minister for Industry and Science (b. 1915) 2000 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters and The Cadets) (b. 1928) 2000 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914) 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939) 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916) 2002 – Bobo Olson, American boxer (b. 1928) 2002 – Ron Taylor, American actor and singer (b. 1952) 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918) 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930) 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (b. 1958) 2006 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (b. 1923) 2007 – Ron Carey, American actor (b. 1935) 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941) 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930) 2009 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923) 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917) 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923) 2012 – Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (b. 1931) 2012 – Jimmy Castor, American saxophonist (b. 1940) 2012 – Mike Current, American football player (b. 1945) 2012 – Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (b. 1968) 2012 – Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (b. 1925) 2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1928) 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930) 2013 – André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926) 2013 – Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1923) 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918) 2013 – Nic Potter, English bass player and songwriter (Van der Graaf Generator and The Misunderstood) (b. 1951) 2013 – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923) 2014 – Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (b. 1938) 2014 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918) 2014 – Wiley W. Hilburn, American journalist and academic (b. 1938) 2014 – Russell Johnson, American actor (b. 1924) 2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931) 2014 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922) 2014 – Bud Spangler, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1938) 2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927) 2015 – Ian Athfield, New Zealand architect (b. 1940) 2015 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (b. 1981) 2015 – Stuart Loory, American journalist and academic (b. 1932) 2015 – Rimma Markova Russian actress (b. 1925) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Berard of Carbio Blaise (Armenian Apostolic) Fursey Joseph Vaz Honoratus of Arles Pope Marcellus I Titian of Oderzo January 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Coptic Church) Juuruku Nichi (Ryukyuan religion) National Nothing Day (United States) National Religious Freedom Day (United States) Teachers' Day (Thailand) Teacher's Day (Myanmar) Thiruvalluvar Day (Tamil Nadu, India) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 16. 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